Today in Tech

Elon Musk gets rid of most of his Supercharger team, confusing and stunning others in the automotive industry, which leads us to ask whether Musk is playing chess while the rest of us play checkers. Chris Shaw, CMO of NTT Research, joins the show as guest co-host to discuss this with Keith and Chris. Also covered – UnitedHealth CEO admits a security failure that caused a huge ransomware attack, Google continues to act ‘evil’ with its latest layoffs, the Rabbit R1 gadget could have just been an Android app, and a Catholic group deploys an ‘AI priest’ chatbot with easily predictable disastrous effects.

Despite low unemployment numbers and reports of “plenty of jobs available” in the technology space, many job seekers are still struggling to find work. Encountering hurdles such as AI-driven applicant tracking systems, fake job listings, recruitment scams and ageism, many job seekers are becoming more frustrated. Keith chats with Chui Senanyake from The Job Helpers to see if there are other ways that job seekers can beat (or bypass) several of these hurdles.

The countdown clock for TikTok in the U.S. continues to run, as the Senate passes a bill and President Biden signs it into law, giving the Chinese-owned company up to a year to sell to a new owner, or face a U.S. ban. Analyst Jack Gold joins the show as guest co-host this week to discuss this news, as well as the ‘earthquake effect’ of the FTC’s ban on non-compete agreements for workers, and whether an AI dogfighting demonstration by the U.S. Air Force is just a dog-and-pony show.

Companies like Apple and Meta are grabbing the headlines for augmented and virtual reality technology (or calling it ‘spatial computing’), but is there still a market for the idea of mixed reality, which merges both technology into an augmented and virtual experience? Keith chats with Mark Day, CEO of AlensiaXR, about the history of XR’s ups and downs, and what it would take for the technology to become more mainstream with consumers and businesses.

While some company layoffs at companies like Tesla and Rivian indicate a lower demand for electric vehicles, companies like Google and Best Buy may have said the quiet part out loud – investments in AI might be one of the reasons they are letting people go. Keith and Chris talk with guest co-host Brandon Mahne about the reasons behind the latest bunch of tech layoffs, as well as whether anyone will buy an AI PC, and why the Fallout TV show hit a home run with viewers and gamers alike.

Before we all got obsessed with generative artificial intelligence, the technology world was obsessed with connecting everything to “the Internet of Things” – street lights, water sensors, buildings, locks, cameras, etc. Disruptions from the pandemic era quelled a lot of that movement, so where are IoT deployments happening now? Keith chats with David Howard, director of technical sales at Quectel and an industry leader on IoT matters, about where IoT stands these days.

Advances in battery performance, design, form factors and lightweight materials are all contributing to a potential boost in wearable computing devices that move beyond the smart watch. Whether devices will be worn on your face, neck, hands or even feet, companies are looking to find new ways for users to monitor their health or provide other data for convenience purposes. Keith chats with Semir Haddad, chief product and strategy officer for MicroEJ, about the new world of wearables we might see in the next five years.

With the arrival of the Apple Vision Pro and renewed interest in virtual reality offerings by Meta, it looks like shipments of the devices will grow in 2024 and beyond. Keith chats with IDC’s Ramon Llamas about the impact of Apple’s entrance into the market, and what the future holds for the augmented reality / virtual reality / mixed reality / spatial computing world.

OpenAI announces a tool that can clone a person’s voice based only on a 15-second audio clip, while a song generator can now generate a three-minute song from natural language prompts. Brandon Mahne joins the crew as guest co-host as they also discuss Amazon ditching its ‘Just Walk Out’ grocery technology, and we find out who was really responsible for the MGM Resorts hack.

The rise of social media addiction and behavioral issues has also corresponded with the rise of smartphone usage, especially among adolescents. When talking about the behavioral issues caused by social media addiction, how much of this can also be attributed to a device that we have attached to our hip almost 24 hours a day? Keith chats with Professor Joseph Trunzo, a professor of psychology at Bryant University about how smartphones are affecting behaviors, as well as whether there will be long-term effects of social media addiction as this generation moves into the workforce.